Dragon Tales
by animeinsanity112989
Summary: Clashing of fire and ice as mixed emotions fly around the group. A new dragon slayer appears and she is not to be taken lightly. Lucy and Natsu; Lucy and Gray; Gray and O.C; Juvia and Gray; along with some cat fights! M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

She sighed as she took a seat at the bar and placed her head down. It had been another long and grueling mission, and as usual, it was also another charity case. Her rent was due soon, but she tried to let that not bother her. At least it wasn't a total loss; she did manage to help save a town from a harmful monster, but at the price of her own body.

So, in order to ease her aching body, Lucy decided to treat herself to a drink. The oh-so lovable Mirajane spotted Lucy's tired expression at the other end of the bar and decided to lift her spirits, since that is what she did best. Her beautiful silvery hair wisped in her face as the doors to the newly built guild flew open. She let her smile rest upon Lucy as she tried to turn her head to face the picture-perfect mage.

"So what shall it be today, Lucy-chan, a drink or advice?" Mira started to pull out a mug from behind the bar before Lucy could answer.

"Thanks, Mira-san, but I won't be needing any advice. All I want is a chilling drink and then I'm heading home to soak in the tub. Save me something good for tomorrow, I might need it." Lucy guzzled down the refreshing beverage before anything or _anyone_ could disturb her more.

But, as always, her "peace" didn't last. Natsu stormed into the bar with his usual sure-fire attitude, causing Lucy's headache to sky rocket. He had a heated expression of determination upon his face as he stomped over to where Gray was drinking with Erza as Happy flew over to the bar where Lucy was trying to drown their bickering in alcohol.

"Keep them coming until I'm deaf in both ears." Lucy groaned.

"Beat that, Snowman!" Natsu shouted as he slapped something down on the table, almost causing Gray to fall back on the chair he was leaning back in.

"Huh?" Gray took interest in the photograph that Natsu was triumphantly grinning at. "And what exactly do I have to beat, Hot-head?" He asked as his eyes still focused on the monster in the picture.

"Twenty feet. That monster was twenty feet tall and its claws were as long as me. I dare you to try and beat that."

"This is only a picture. Can I really believe that this monster was twenty feet tall?" He folded his arms across his chest as he leaned back further into his chair with a smirk spreading across his smooth features.

"Of course it was that tall! Just ask Lucy! She was on the same mission, right Lucy?" Natsu turned around to look at Lucy who was trying to ignore the other table.

"Yeah, yeah, just leave me out of this one time." She agreed, hoping that it wouldn't cause an escapade.

"Oh, yeah? Well, anyone can take down a twenty foot monster, but," Gray looked around the bar to challenge his rival to something, "I bet that you can't drink as much as me!"

"Oh, so is it a drinking contest? Count me in!" Natsu rushed over to the bar.

"A drinking contest? Hey, I'm in." Kana started to make her way over to the bar with a large barrel of alcohol already under her arm.

"Sorry, Kana but if you join then it wouldn't be a contest. It's just between me and the Hot-head." Gray pointed over to Natsu who was setting up the shots by Lucy, for an odd reason.

"So, you're afraid of losing to me?" She provoked, hoping that Natsu overheard so that she could join.

"I don't lose to anyone! If you think that you can beat me Kana, then you're in! Get your asses over here if you're ready!" Natsu called to the two.

"Uh, that's it. I'm heading home." Lucy left her money on the table as she grasped her side and limped out of the guild's bar.

"Lucy?" Erza called from her seat.

Seeing as it was Erza who took notice in her leaving, she decided to oblige and walk over to where her friend was sitting. It wasn't rare that she would talk to her but Lucy thought that she heard something coat her voice, worry? Who knows, so she walked over and took a seat, trying to block out the cheers coming from the other drunks who were watching the contest.

"Yeah?" Lucy winced as she shifted to a more "comfortable" position.

"What happened to you?"

"Well, I was kinda in the wrong place at the wrong time as Natsu took down that monster. But thanks to Happy, I was only slightly crushed by the creature's arm." She sighed, wincing as it hurt down her spine.

"So, what you're telling me is that Natsu hurt you?" Erza raised her eyebrow and glared over at the young dragon slayer.

"Well, he defeated the monster, but if you see it from my point of view, yeah. I guess he did cause the monster to tumble and fall on me -"

"NATSU!"

All eyes focused on the S-ranked mage and Lucy, who was wishing she had just kept walking, as Erza made her way over to the drinking contest which had suddenly dispersed. Kana was now a few tables away from the bar and Gray was trying to crawl his way from where the war zone was going to happen. Natsu looked up at the woman who now had an equal amount of fire in her eyes as he continued on with the contest, saying he was now in the lead.

_I think I should get out of here…_ Lucy made her way out of the bar as the commotion starting, giving her the perfect cover.

Gray, however, noticed Lucy's leave and decided that anywhere was better than being here, so he made his way after her. She looked like she was limping anyway, so he couldn't let her walk the streets this late in her condition. He easily caught up with her and took her pace so that she wouldn't have to keep up.

"So, what happened?" He asked with his hands in his pockets while his eyes kept watch on the night sky above them.

"Oh, the usual. We just finished a mission, so you know." She tried to shrug, but the gesture was a little too painful.

"That's why Erza's flipping shit, right?" He smirked as he imagined what kind of things Erza was doing to Natsu right now.

"Yeah, I told her what happened. Uh," she fell to her knees as she felt the need to take a rest. Her ankle was too busted up to continue.

"Here," Gray crouched down and slid his arms underneath Lucy's slight figure. She was light, like he expected, and now that she was in his arms, it would be easier to take her back home.

"Thank you, Gray." She smiled up at him, but her eyes were getting the best of her as her vision blurred and eventually slipped from her grasp.

He simply sighed as they approached her door. Like usual, he entered her apartment easily without the need for a key. He shifted Lucy's weight as he placed her down on her couch where she could rest peacefully. And he took one last glimpse of her as she drifted off into a sleep, hoping that the pain would wear off in the morning. He turned back to the door and left to leave her alone.

* * *

Something shuffled around in the darkness, and that's what woke her up. Her eyes fluttered open and lazily looked to the window to see if it was still night out or not. The moon hung its head sleepily out her window along with the stars that glowed like little fireflies in the night sky. She sighed and tried to roll onto her side to see what caused her to wake, but in the darkness, she couldn't find anything.

Wincing from the stab in her side and the aching in her ankle and head, she decided to address her wounds and then make a dash for the sheets. So, she hobbled to her desk drawer where she held her first aid kit and started to rummage through it. She was running low on bandages and antiseptic, but there was enough here to treat her for now. Her fingers fumbled as she tried to unravel the white bandages and they ended up falling out of her hands, unraveling all over her floor.

Lucy sighed as she tried to bend down and reach for the slippery fabric, but a new pain erupted in her lower back. Thinking that it just added another injury to her list, she ignored it as she tried to get the bandages back, but she fell out of her seat, landing on her busted ankle and making it worse. She screamed out in pain, but forced her voice to be quiet so that she wouldn't wake the neighbors, and surprisingly, the little roll of bandages started to float into midair as they were picked up by someone.

Seeing as it was still dark within her apartment, she couldn't tell who had entered, which could be anyone from the guild considering the past "break-ins". But, this wasn't a burglar; instead, it was someone who would be her first suspect in a break-in. Natsu turned on the desk lamp for her and cocked his head to the side as he looked down at Lucy who was lying on the floor.

"What are you doing here, Natsu?" She asked as she tried to get herself back up on her desk chair.

"Well, you didn't stay for the contest so I thought I should check on you. Are you okay?" He asked as he noticed her struggling to get back up.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" She winced as her weight returned to her ankle so that she could get up onto the chair. "Could you give me that?" Lucy pointed to the white bandages in his hand.

He handed the bandages to her and took a seat on the floor by her side, crossing his legs as his eyes didn't leave her wounds. She wrapped up her ankle first, good and tight, before rummaging through the kit for antiseptic and band-aids. Lucy sucked in quick breaths of air as the alcohol burned her cuts and once the minor injuries were taken care of, she gathered all of her strength and stood on her ankle. Guiding her hand along the wall, she used it as support while she made her way to her bathroom without the use of Natsu's offered help.

She managed to hobble over to her bathroom sink and even though she knew Natsu was standing in the doorway watching her, she didn't care as she lifted her shirt above her head. Taking a good look in the mirror, Lucy could see the damage that she had suffered on the last mission, although she's been through worse. Still, seeing her battered and bruised body did send chills down her spine as her fingers pressed down on her bruises, checking the extent of the damage.

"How did that happen?" Natsu's voice broke the silence and caused Lucy to turn around and face him. His arms were crossed over his chest while his hands were clenched into fists. His face was blank, though, as he continued to eye Lucy's back.

"I overdid myself on the last mission, is all. It's nothing to be worried about." She smiled at him, hoping that it wouldn't make him worry too much, but his eyes moved to hers.

"I wanna help," he started to make his way over to his blond partner.

"Oh, no, it's fine really."

"Don't be stupid. You're gonna need help reaching that one on your back anyway." He grabbed the bandages from her hand and ran his opposite fingers down her back, checking how deep the cut was.

"Thank you, Natsu, but do you even know how to dress a wound?" She asked, remembering all of his past injuries.

"Sure, I do!" He grinned his goofy smile at her as he scooped her up in his arms, making sure not to touch her back and trying not to cause pain on her ankle. This caused her to drop her shirt on the bathroom floor, leaving her black laced bra the only material to cover her upper body. "Here, now sit oppositely." Natsu placed Lucy back on her desk chair, and she turned around so that her chin rested on the back of the chair and her wounded back was facing him.

She felt his heated fingers as they slid down her lower back, causing ripples to flow down her back. She never realized how soothing his touch was before as he lined his fingers against the opening of her wound. They heated the injury while he paid no attention anything else around him, not noticing that Lucy shivered every time he ran his fingers up and down her spine. But, she was happy that he didn't see her face since there was a dark shade of crimson lining her cheeks.

"Well, it's not that deep." Instead of taking the antiseptic back out of the kit, he grabbed some sort of cream and started to smooth it all over the open wound. It didn't burn as much as the alcohol did, but that didn't mean she was taking it lightly. The cream stung and that caused her to moan a bit under her breath, trying to hide it with an intake of fresh air. "Could you sit up straight and hold your arms up?"

She did as she was asked and started to feel a tug as Natsu began to wrap the white bandages all around her midsection. It tickled more than it hurt so she had to refrain from laughing but as Natsu wove the fabric around her, he could hear a small giggle vibrating in her throat, making him want to smile. When it was all done, she turned around to face him while he took a seat on the floor with a large smile spread across his features.

_This suits him much better than that blank look of his._ She returned his smile with one of her own. "Thank you, Natsu."

"Sure, sure, but could you tell me something?" His face changed from his smile to a more serious expression.

"What?"

"Tell me the truth, please. I did this to, didn't I?" His face didn't change but his eyes showed sorrow and disappointment as his shoulders slightly went limp.

"No, _you_ didn't. That monster did, but I'm fine, okay?"

"Why didn't you tell me that you got hurt? I could've helped you."

"Because I wanted to get home as soon as possible and soak in the tub, but I fell asleep and so I probably won't be able to do that." She sighed, "Thank you again."

Natsu got to his feet and smiled down on her. He held out his hand for her to take and when she took it, he helped her up with his strength and didn't allow any weight to fall upon her ankle. His one arm securely wrapped itself around her waist as he allowed her to lean on him while he helped her to her bedroom. She felt safe with him this close by her and so she held onto him with all of her strength as they both made their way to her bedroom. Feeling a bit relieved that it was dark in the room since a massive amount of heat flooded her cheeks, causing them to flare a bright red.

He sat her down on her bed and he could see the effects of the late night falling upon her as her eyelids drooped and her body could barely sit up. Natsu grabbed her shoulders and lightly pushed her back in the bed as she instinctively grabbed for the sheets and threw them over her body while rolling onto her side so that her back would heal without too much pain. He turned to head out of her room, but she muttered something in her sleep that made him remain rooted where he stood. Letting a smile play at his face, he stood there and turned back to face Lucy who had rolled on her opposite side, facing the doorway.

Even though her eyes were closed, there was a smile playing at her lips as she sighed in her sleep. Natsu walked out of the room and back to the living room where he, too, felt the extent of Erza's punishment. He wasn't aware that he put her through so much until Erza pounded it in him, but now, he promised himself that he wouldn't let anything harm Lucy again as long as they were nakama. Crashing on her couch, he felt his eyes to lull back into his head as he wanted to rest for a bit.

* * *

The sun's light leaked through her window, causing her to roll onto her back and yelp out in pain as she remembered that her back was injured. Lucy stretched her arms up above her head to relieve her stiff muscles and decided to change. She was still wearing her black bra and denim shorts from yesterday and remembered what happened last night. Before going to her dresser, she decided to see if Natsu was still here, knowing that he might've been tired and passed out on her couch. But when she peeked her head around the corner, there was no one on the couch but an imprint from a person.

"I guess he left," she slightly shrugged and hobbled back to her room to change into something more comfortable and then made her way to her nightstand where she knew she placed her keys. Today, she was going to the bar and was going to take it easy by not taking a job. She still had a few weeks before the rent was due anyway so she decided to take a day or two to rest up before taking anymore job offers.

"Ugh, maybe I should've stayed at home." Lucy groaned as another fight between Natsu and Gray broke out. Erza sat next to Lucy but she was trying to ignore the boy's fighting since it never made her "friendly".

"How're you feeling?" She asked to distract herself from breaking them up.

"Still a bit bruised, but a lot better than yesterday. What exactly did you do to Natsu anyway? He seemed a bit different when he stopped by last night." Lucy mentioned something that had bothered her.

"I only punished him for getting you injured. A partner's job is to look out for their other partner and since he did more harm than help, he deserved his ass to be kicked. It was as simple as that." She crossed her arms over her chest and nodded her head in agreement as she saw nothing wrong with her actions.

"Man, that's scary," she muttered under her breath and watched as Natsu came hurdling past the women. He crashed into a table full of other drunks and got up with a few scratches on him, but his eyes were full of determination before they locked onto Lucy's. When their eyes met, he came rushing over and glared at Erza, which he only did if he was going to challenge her.

But he simply told her, "You better not be making Lucy upset." He glared at her as she stared back with a confused expression. Gray caught him by surprise as he let his guard down and that caused him to continue with the fight.

"What was that about?" Lucy gaped.

"I don't know, but like hell I would ever make you upset. He has some nerve," Erza prepared herself to get up out of her seat, but Lucy pulled her right back down.

"It's fine; let's drop it." She sighed and Erza complied by sitting back down, but her eyes never left the fight now.

"So, what happened after I sent him after you?" She asked nonchalantly as Lucy's eyes bugged out of her head.

"You sent him? Why?"

"To make sure you were okay, of course. It was his fault so he had to go, otherwise I would've come with you."

Lucy sighed, "He helped me patch up a scratch on my back. It was nothing big but I couldn't reach it, so he helped. And then he asked if he was the one who hurt me, but of course it wasn't him. It was really stupid, in fact." She blushed slightly as she remembered the warmth that his created when they were scanning her back. "But, if it wasn't for Gray, I don't think I would've made it to my apartment."

"Gray? I didn't see him leave."

"Yeah, he carried me back to my apartment when I couldn't walk anymore."

"I see," Erza mumbled to herself as she got lost in her thoughts. "I don't think you should be hanging around with those boys anymore with no supervision when you're injured like that."

"Why's that? They would never do anything wrong with me."

"I don't know. If they ever did have that drinking contest, I would stay away from them if I were you. But, they know better than to hurt you." She took a swig from her mug.

"So, stay away from alcohol, got it." Lucy smiled and watched as Natsu involved more of the bar members with his brawl.

"Gray, you bastard, get back here!" Natsu cried as he recovered from yet another toss to a table of guild members.

"I'm not running, you flame-headed-pussy!" Gray encouraged and removed yet another article of clothing; thank god he still had his boxers.

Natsu lept into the air and Gray was about to strike him down when he felt the presence of an extreme cold. Getting him off guard, Natsu cheered as he pummeled down on the ice mage and kept him to the floor. But, Gray's attention lay elsewhere as something stirred outside and it was a lot more interesting than staying with the fire-breather. So, in a trance-like state, he managed to push Natsu off of his body and slowly made his way to the door.

"I thought you said you weren't running!" Natsu ran up behind his rival and jumped onto his back as he tried to pull him back with all his might, but Gray simply grunted and continued on walking toward the door.

"Gray? Is something wrong?" Lucy asked she saw the fire mage latched onto his back without him taking retaliation.

"Uh," he simply grunted and continued on at a slow trance-like pace.

"Gray, stop!" Erza commanded, but even that had no effect.

As Erza's command rang about the guild, all of the fighting stop to see what would happen. No one had disobeyed Erza's command and no one would've thought that it would be Gray to be the first. He and Natsu were the two least likely to ever disobey an Erza order, but he kept on shuffling his feet forward with Natsu tugging on his back, unfazed.

Lucy got up from her spot and followed the ice mage as he pushed open the guild doors and because of her curiosity and raging anger, Erza tagged along as well. But everyone stopped when the ice mage stopped and they all followed his gaze as his jaw dropped, eyes returning from his trance.

"W-Who're you?" He asked as snowflakes fell from the sky. Even though it was a winter month, he would've known about the oncoming snow, but this struck surprise in his system. And finally taking notice to Natsu's incessant gnawing, he flung him over his shoulder causing him to crash in the snow.

A young woman stood before the guild as she looked up to the sky which had darkened in the matter of minutes and created the now falling snow. She ignored Gray's question for a while before looking him in the eyes, causing a chill to run down his spine. Her eyes shared two different colors, one a light icy blue and the other a cold dark charcoal. The color of her hair was also a strange sight, seeing as it was as white as the falling snow, and it flowed over her shoulders until it brushed the small of her back. But, her rosy lips parted and she mouthed something before smiling at the guild and walking over to where Gray had flung Natsu. Her slim body was covered in summer clothes like a black leather skirt and a matching black and purple corset, which didn't provide much covering for her chest since it was about to pop the lace holding the clothing together.

She walked, no, glided over as the snow seemed to be carried by her essence and she bent over the stilled Natsu. She gave him a smile before turning her attention on the ice mage who had grown a bit curious and a bit fearful of the young woman.

"Is this Fairy Tail?" She asked in a sing-song like voice that seemed to echo all throughout Gray's brain.

He clenched his fists, but nodded in confirmation.

The young woman jumped up and clapped her hands as a large and dangerous smile appeared on her frosty features. "Great! So, I've made it!" She cheered for herself, causing Gray to cock his head to the side as did everyone else.

Natsu couldn't believe that Gray had flung him so easily, so he leapt back onto his feet and turned to face the others. A woman with long white hair had her back turned on him, but she seemed to be causing the guild some confusion, from the look upon their faces. But, she had smelled him and turned half of her body to face Natsu. One look upon her icy blue eye gave him chills as his face fell to shock.

"L-L-Lisanna?" His jaw dropped to the snow as tears began to well up in the corners of his eyes.

"Lisanna?" Lucy cocked her head to the side at the sound of the familiar name, but it wasn't possible. The story that she heard of Lisanna was that of her death.

"Natsu Dragonil," the woman smiled.

* * *

_**I hope you liked my first fanfic of Natsu and Lucy! I just caught myself up with Fairy Tail and I hope that I can stretch this on like I did with another one of my stories. I just love the coupling and so I couldn't help myself from writing this. Please read and review and I'll try and make the next update come fast. (^-^)**_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"You can't be Lisanna," Natsu muttered to himself, "because she's dead." A sudden wave of grief washed over him. "Who are you?" He demanded, the grief turning to authority.

"My name is Rinoa Ceiro." She turned around so that she could face him head on with her unique beauty, both of her mysterious eyes latching onto his. "I've heard many great things about you, Natsu Dragonil or do you go by Salamander now?" Rinoa smiled at him but he only clenched his fists and glared at the woman.

There was something about her that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He wasn't the one who broke the stare, though, but her. She turned her attention back to Gray who, like Natsu, only glared at her with an eerie suspicion. She had gotten him off guard with the hum of her snow and something else about her made him frozen where he stood.

"Gray Fullbuster," she purred his name into his ear without anyone seeing how she moved there so fast. No one had seen her move but there she was with her left hand grabbing a fistful of his ebony locks and her lips rested by his ear. He tensed at the touch but otherwise kept a calm demeanor. "I'm here on a different matter." Rinoa slid her left hand from the back of his head, down his cheek, until it rested upon the Fairy Tail mark on his bare chest. Her fingers left an icy chill down his spine as they brushed off his skin and she cleared through the mob, making herself enter the guild's bar.

Everyone followed after the beautiful but strange snow mage except for Erza, Lucy, Natsu, and Gray. Happy was also there by Lucy's side as the four friends started to enclose around Gray, who seemed frozen in the snow. He just stood there with his eyes nearly exploding from his head and when Natsu saw this, he only patted Gray on the back, trying to cheer him up but causing him to fall on his hands and knees gasping for air.

"Gray, what's the matter? Who was that woman?" Lucy knelt beside her friend and placed her hand on his back, causing him to feel the heat once again.

"I don't know but I literally felt frozen right down to my core. I thought I was going to shatter from the inside out." He huffed as the sweat beading on his face started to calm down a bit.

"An ice mage feeling cold? I've never heard of such a thing." Erza muttered as she turned her attention to bar's main entrance.

"You're losing your touch, huh, Ice Queen?" Natsu taunted, trying to shake off the exact feeling.

"Don't lose your flame, Air-head. You felt it too." Gray adjusted himself so that he was sitting back in the snow, the air finally returning to his lungs. Natsu only grimaced at him and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Erza, did you feel anything?" Lucy asked, wondering why she couldn't feel the same coldness as Gray or Natsu.

"No," she responded quickly, still eyeing the entrance in case there was any commotion.

"You know what else?" Happy spoke up. "This snow isn't cold at all." He picked some up in his paws and held it up to Lucy so that she could touch it.

"You're right. It's not cold." She let the flakes separate in her fingers.

"What are you talking about? It's freezing!" Natsu complained, rubbing his arms as they remained folded across his chest.

"How can you be cold?" Lucy asked the fire mage as he blew flames into his palms for warmth.

"I don't know, but I don't like it." He scowled and stalked off towards the guild, heat radiating from his body as the sense of an exciting fight was luring him in.

"Wait! Natsu!" Happy flew after him as he entered the bar.

"That idiot, he doesn't know what he's getting himself into!" Gray shivered as he got to his feet.

"Lucy, I'm going on ahead." Erza left to go stop Natsu, leaving Lucy and Gray in the snow.

"Gray, are you sure you're alright?" Lucy asked, noticing how only his breath showed in the air. She placed her hand on his shoulder and felt how cold he was, like a walking corpse.

"Yeah, this is nothing." He tried to move forward but his legs felt stiff. He could barely feel any sensation and that's when it hit him. Rinoa had held the back of his head, where the feeling of coldness first developed, which could only mean that she wasn't just a snow mage but an ice mage as well. She was the cause of this.

"What's the matter?" Lucy's concern shot through his thoughts, bringing him back down to Earth.

"I-I can't…move my…legs." He admitted, ashamed, as a flare of anger sparked the gears in his head. There was no way that that woman was going to get away with this.

"Do you want help then?" She offered since they were nakama but also because he had helped her the night before. A part of her mind, though, did remember the awful aching all over but she pushed it out of her mind as she placed Gray's arm over her shoulder. Lucy knew she didn't have the physical strength to support him, but as long as she helped him move forward, then it would suffice.

"Thank you, Lucy." He muttered as a rosy shade of pink highlighted his frozen, icy features.

She blushed, too, at the gratitude but both of their redness vanished as they walked into the guild's bar. The temperature had dropped significantly now but no one seemed to notice the difference. That wasn't the only strange thing as the two mages noticed no damage had been dealt upon the large bar. Lucy was thinking for sure that Natsu would break more tables or would leave scorch marks around the place, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except that Erza and Natsu, with Happy lying behind his chair, were both sitting at a table with _her_.

Gray held back his scowl as Erza turned around to lightly smile at her friends, waving in their direction to get their attention. As they approached, both Lucy and Gray noticed a pouting Natsu, with a couple of bruises on his arms and one on his cheek, as he tried not to make eye contact with the snowy haired woman sitting across from them. Gray pulled his arm off of Lucy's shoulders, feeling his legs returning to his control. He sat down next to Erza, opposite Natsu, while Lucy took her place next to Natsu. Lucy also took notice of the woman's familiar tattoo on her right breast just under the crook of her neck.

Apparently, Gray took notice of this at the exact same time Lucy did for they both gave out a shocking gasp. Rinoa simply smiled at their reaction, folding her hand under her chin to rest upon, while Natsu continued to keep his attention distracted on a stain in the wooden table and Erza took a swig from her mug.

"H-How? When? Why?" Lucy stammered as she pointed at the guild's mark on her chest.

"Oh, Lucy-san, is this how you treat nakama?" Rinoa's smile faltered a bit but it was just a ploy since it still played at the corners of her mouth.

"Nakama?" Gray huffed. "You froze my legs, dammit! How can I treat you as nakama," he brought his fist down upon the table, causing the music in the background to falter before regaining its composure. He crossed his arms over his chest since he couldn't storm away from the group yet.

"Not a very good first impression?" This time her frown stayed upon her paled face as her black and blue eyes darted between the four people.

"Don't worry, they'll get over it." Erza told her, cheering her up from the slight depression. It was out of character for her to behave this well-mannered when someone hurt her one of her friends, but considering this woman was a part of the guild, Lucy suspected that it made her nakama and even though she didn't like her nakama to fight, Erza had been lenient with Natsu's and Gray's all-out brawls.

"So, how do you know our names?" Lucy asked, trying to start things over.

"Oh, well, I've heard many great stories about this guild and most of them contained you people." Her smile returned as she looked at Natsu, but his eyes still wandered from hers. "Most of the stories, though, involved Mr. Salamander over there, and what intrigued me about him was that he was also a dragon slayer."

"Also?" Natsu finally joined in when he heard of Rinoa's explanation.

"Yes, I was taught by the twin dragons Chu and Pyr." She had finally gotten everyone's attention now and so she thought it was about time that she explained her story. "Chu was Pyr's brother and while Pyr taught me how to be a grown woman, Chu told me how to fight. He was the dragon that taught me my ice magic, but Pyr taught me another type of magic and even though it wasn't as effective as Chu's, I still like to use it. It is quite simple, though, and she even gave its name to me, Seduction. Sure, it didn't work as good as it does now, but she liked to teach me it." Taking in a deep breath, Rinoa continued, "About seven years ago, though, both Chu and Pyr disappeared without a trace of their scent or a reason why, and ever since then, I've been on my own. I've worked with other guilds but I had a bad habit of destroying things on my missions and so one after the other I was kicked out. That's when I heard about Fairy Tail and how you got away with your property damage." She smiled at the four mages whose mouths were all dropped. It was as if dragon slayers were becoming more and more common.

"Wait, wait, wait; so, you're telling me that _you_'re a dragon slayer?" Gray asked, finally taking in the woman's strange appearance but that didn't excuse her for what she did to him.

"Uh-huh, and that's another reason why I came here. I heard that Fairy Tail had three dragon slayers of their own and so I thought that one of you had heard or seen of Chu or Pyr." She told them with a hopeful smile spreading across her lips. "I really miss them," she added.

"Get in line," Natsu muttered as his own sadness of Igneel's disappearance flashed through his thoughts.

"I see," she saddened, but it still didn't poison her mood. "I suspected that that would happen, but oh well. Looks like I'm going to be staying for awhile then." Her smile returned to her features. "I'm really sorry, Gray-kun. I didn't realize what I was doing and for that I'm deeply ashamed. I know how about I get around for us; it's on me." She got up from her seat and walked over to the bar where Mirajane was happily serving some of the regulars.

"Well, she's not that bad." Lucy told the others, but it appeared that each of them had comments of their own.

"Tch, it still doesn't give her the excuse to go around a freeze other people's bodies." Gray muttered through gritted teeth.

"She's nakama though, so you better not be hard on her." Erza glared at both Gray and Natsu, forcing their bad moods to change for the better.

"Alright, then I'll fight her!" Natsu proclaimed, raising his fist into the air as he stood up on his seat. His whole attitude had changed from only a moment ago; well, at least he was becoming normal again.

"Natsu!" Lucy pulled him right back into his seat. "She just joined and you're already picking a fight with her?"

"Of course, if she really knew what she was getting into, then she would've known that there'd be a fight sooner or later. Besides, she's a dragon slayer so I've gotta find out what she's made of." He grinned wide as Rinoa made her way back to the table with five mugs on a platter.

The way she walked over with the platter resting on the palm of her hand over her head gave the illusion of her swaying in the wind. Her hips were also alluring some of the male mages in the guild's bar as they shuffled left and right with the motion of her voluptuous bust. But as one heel crossed the other, she tripped and ended up falling to her hands and knees while the alcohol soaked her entire body, the mugs shattering as they collided with the ground. Lucy immediately sprung from her seat and sprinted over to Rinoa, who was trying to pick up the glass shards; Erza also made her way over and lent aid to clean up the mess.

Gray held Natsu back, though, hoping to get a word with the young dragon slayer. "Hey, she looks a lot like Lisanna. Are you alright?" He asked as Natsu looked over to see Lucy, attempting to dry Rinoa's beer soaked, long, white hair.

A flash of sadness flickered in his eyes for a second as Natsu brushed off Gray's hand from his shoulder. "Of course I'm fine. Geez, maybe I should kick your ass instead." A confident smirk took over as he bolt from the table and over to the girls.

"Like you'd ever be able to do that…" he muttered. His legs finally thawed, allowing him to also give aid even though there were things that he didn't quite like about that woman.

When they had cleaned the mess, Natsu told Rinoa how he wanted to fight with her and to everyone's surprise, she accepted. Several others besides Lucy, Gray, Erza, and Happy wandered outside after the two young dragon slayers to witness the enticing entertainment. Everyone kept their distance from the two opponents, knowing full aware of Natsu's destructive habits and Rinoa's show of clumsiness from a few moments ago. And since this was only a fight between nakama, everyone was hoping that Natsu wouldn't go overboard and get serious like he does with Gray.

A large and over confident smirk spread across his face as fiery determination burned in his eyes. Natsu took his usual stance with his fists a blazed while Rinoa stood a few feet away with a sly smile on her features. Her stance was light and gingerly as she kept her hands behind her back, rocking back and forth on her toes. She swayed with the wind as the snow began to pick up. Natsu on the other hand was sturdy as a rock as he waited for the sign to go, but before anything happened, Rinoa spoke up.

"Natsu, I'm feeling a bit tired after traveling so I would like to finish this up quick. How about we put some rules on this?" She suggested, her eyes a light with a small spark.

"I don't care. As long as you don't hold back, anything's fine with me." He told her, getting more pumped for the challenge.

"The rules are simple; there is only one rule. The first person to pin the other until the count of ten is the winner. You ready?"

"Oh yeah," his body was already sky rocketing.

"Gray-kun, could you be a dear and count to ten when I pin him? Thanks," she smiled at Gray, causing him to blush in humility and agitation, but he slightly nodded his head, giving her the okay she needed. The confidence she held was just as overestimated as Natsu's which was pretty high. The only other people who held that confidence were Erza, Gray, and Gajeel; everyone else was pretty much tolerant of his pompous attitude.

"Go!" Erza called out, probably getting more impatient as both of them just standing there.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Natsu made the first move and charged towards Rinoa who still remained calm, rocking back and forth on her toes. He hooked for the right, but she easily dodged by following his jab and when he went for the uppercut with the opposite hand, she jumped up into the air, flipping backwards and landing like a sprite on her feet once again.

Natsu was continuously on the offense while Rinoa kept following his movements, making it appear like she was dancing with the fire mage. He crouched down by her feet and swept his leg underneath hers, but she simply flipped backwards onto her right palm and pushed up in a straight motion into the sky. He was expecting that and so Natsu made a charge for her in the air with his fist a blazed. It was about to make contact with her face, but she turned to face it so that her lips came into contact with it. As soon as she kissed the blow, his fire froze which added weight to his body, unbalancing him in the air and caused him to crash back down to the Earth. She landed lightly on her feet while he struggled to break free of the icy cuff. It wasn't like she got off with no damage but the only thing that the blow left her with was chapped lips.

"Your blood is a lot hotter than most men, but that is to be expected. I wouldn't be surprise if you broke free any second now." She parted her plump and rosy lips so they formed a dangerous smile, a dragon's smile. "But since I won't get a chance like this," Rinoa dashed forward with her speed while Natsu frustratingly tried to bash the ice against the ground, hoping that it would loosen a bit so he could fire up his fist.

He broke the ice with his flames just as Rinoa's hand came into contact with her hand on his chest. Her touch was cold and his was hot, but her hand had been there a second longer, causing Natsu to feel an extreme sense of frostbite overwhelming his system. But, his contact with her left shoulder wasn't a complete waste as it pushed her off of his body. She had managed to freeze his movements on his entire right side while his blow burned her left arm. They both retreated from each other's touch as Natsu dragged his right leg as he jumped back and Rinoa grasped her left arm, her feet as graceful as ever. Their breaths were visible as their chests heaved in unison from the tiring "dancing" that they performed earlier.

"Not bad," Natsu grinned as he grasped his right arm.

"Just as expected from the great Salamander, but," she dashed forward, catching him off guard but he braced himself for another frontal attack, "not good enough." Rinoa whispered in his ear as she grasped onto the back of his head. Natsu could feel his left side falling into the same coldness as his right did, so before the numbness could spread he pushed forward, causing some of his rosy pink hair to be torn into her grasp. "Feeling tired yet? Your blood should be slowing down now, so I would recommend taking a nap. I could help you."

She chased after him, making him go on the defensive as she tried to latch her palm to his skin. Just one more touch; she needed one more touch and then Natsu would be put out of commission. As he dodged her attacks, he tried to think of a come back. He knew that he needed time to break the ice, but the ice was in his own body. Even with his extreme heat, it would take about a few seconds to heat up his legs, but with the way she moved, there was no way that he was going to get a few seconds. His mind was moving sluggishly as he concentrated more on forcing his legs to move than to come up with a counterattack. This ice wasn't like Gray's since it was a lot thicker and since he never tried to insert it into his body. But, fighting with that ice mage did make him come up with ways to counter while he was frozen.

Lucy couldn't continue watching. Natsu was actually on the defensive and seeing him struggle like that made her antsy, like there was something that she could do but was remained to stay on the sidelines. She didn't like feeling helpless when Natsu fought since there were ways to help him, but whenever he got serious he would never let her intervene, except when he was fighting Gajeel but that was unfair circumstances in her mind. Her eyes never left his frantic body as he slowly moved about, being chased by that ice witch of a dragon slayer.

Gray wasn't sure who he wanted to win more in this fight, Natsu or Rinoa. He still had a grudge against the woman from freezing his legs, but there was no way that Natsu was going to beat her before he did. That idiot was probably sweating this out anyway so he relaxed and waited for the outcome, getting psyched about facing off against the winner. There was no way that he was going to let that flame-head get all the fun and win. He put his money on Rinoa beating him.

Erza would be surprised if Natsu didn't win. He had an extreme power sleeping within but she knew that he didn't know how to awaken it yet. If he could awaken it, then there would be no contest between the two dragon slayers and besides, she wasn't going to let him surpass her unless he proved that power of his. He had to win this fight if he wanted to ever become an S-ranked mage.

"Give it up, Salamander. You're about completely frozen. If you keep this up, you're going to be preserved for the next hundred years or so to come." Rinoa told him as she continued to chase and reach for him.

"Yeah, right!" Natsu made a swing for her face, but his movements had slowed drastically, causing him to be predictable. Rinoa saw the hook and brought her head underneath his fist as it barely grazed the top of her head. She scooped her head under the swing and to Natsu's-and everyone else's-surprise, she pressed her lips to his.

A loud gasp rang throughout the gathered mob as Natsu's face lit bright red before frosting over with ice. Rinoa pulled back from under his arm, causing him to fall onto his back and with a simple motion of her foot upon his chest, Gray started his countdown from ten as a blush of humility spread across his cheeks. Rinoa smiled down at Natsu whose last reaction still remained on his face even though he had different emotions running through his mind. First, there was the embarrassment of losing and then there was the frustration and agitation of her doing _that_ to him. She may look like Lisanna, from an angle, but she wasn't Lisanna. It had taken him awhile to get past her death and replace those feelings he had for her with someone else for whom he had trusted and treated with deeper and more meaningful feelings. There was no way he was going to let her get away with this victory.

Lucy's heart felt like it was bursting from her chest as she tried to catch the escaping feelings, grasping her chest from the pain. Her short gasps were audible but because of the murmurs behind her, no one could hear her. The pounding in her ears, though, prevented her from noticing anyone else except for two people, Natsu and _her_. The building rage inside her started to melt into sadness as her vision clouded from batting away tears. When everyone else ran forward, she ran inside the guild.

Gray finished his countdown and couldn't believe that that idiot lost. He was sure that, as much as he wanted Rinoa to win, he would be able to take her down no problem, but like always, Natsu was surprising him. Before taking off to rub it in his face, Gray looked over at Lucy who was at his right and saw that she was clutching at her chest and heaving loudly. There was something wrong with her and as much as he would've loved to tease the loser about another loss, he couldn't let his friend suffer. But, as everyone made a run to see how Natsu was, Lucy ran back inside the guild's bar and so he made his way through the oncoming mob and took off after Lucy.

As Erza was the first one on the scene, she noticed that the ice was already melting, but not because of Rinoa. His face was scrunched up as his eyes showed signs of wanting revenge and hurting loss, but aside from that, his fists were clenching tighter under the frost as steam came blasting from his frozen body. His anger was clear upon his face, but this was no time to be acting serious, especially since Rinoa was nakama and there was no point in this brawl to begin with. Before anyone else could notice his burning anger, Erza kicked him in his side to get his attention and sending a death glare his way, he immediately surrendered and let his body heat melt off the frost.

"No hard feelings, right?" Rinoa asked as soon as Natsu got to his feet.

He grumbled something and stalked off towards the bar with Happy flying overhead. Erza stayed back and placed her hand on Rinoa's shoulder. "I would advise never to do that in the future." She gave a "light" squeeze on the dragon slayer's shoulder, but she didn't flinch.

"What if he wants me to?" She glared into Erza's eyes with such fierceness that she was taken aback. Never had anyone deliberately stood up to her like that. The grip on her hand loosened and Rinoa shoved her aside, stalking off with grace opposite the guild's bar.

* * *

Lucy made sure that she got a table all to herself in the corner of the bar so that no one would see her and disturb her. She remembered last night and how warm Natsu's touch seemed to be on her skin and how he had threatened Erza, not too long ago, to not upset me. She lightly chuckled at the moments of their first meeting and everything else that they've been through. It never occurred to her how much this affected her well being; how a simple kiss could tear this big of a hole in her chest and now. Why now?

She felt something cold press itself on her shoulder, and hoping it wasn't _her_, she looked up and saw Gray's smooth face. He tried to smile warmly to her, but it was faltering in its path. She didn't care to notice the gesture, thought, since everything seemed to be crashing down upon her in a blurry fog of tears. He took a seat next to her and hunched over so that his elbows were on the tabletop and his chair rested firmly in place. His head was also hung over as he shielded his eyes from her. Lucy couldn't help but look over at her friend and wonder what was troubling him since he wouldn't be the one to feel upset about seeing Natsu lose.

"Gray?" She sniffled, trying to hold back her tears.

"That idiot…" he pounded his fist against the table, causing Lucy to jump a bit in her seat from the "excessive" force. "I thought he told me he would be alright, but I guess some things never change." He sighed and relaxed his clenched fists.

"Gray, what's the matter?" Her own problems seemed to be hummed while she tried to understand what Gray was talking about. It was probably a good thing that he showed up because it seemed that what his problem was it was making hers seem a lot more tolerable.

"Nothing," he muttered and shook his head. Gray looked up from behind his ebony bangs and into her eyes. "I'm just sick and tired of saving his ass."

"What?" She was confused at his words, but it was okay if she didn't understand because what Gray did next wasn't something that he always did to her. He took her into his arms and held her against his bare chest, his cold skin giving her chills down her spine and causing her to blush a deep crimson.

"Everything'll be okay, I promise." He whispered into her ear, causing her to blush even more.

"Gray, what are you-"

Just then, the doors to the guild's bar burst open with Natsu in the doorway. Happy was beside him, but Natsu looked different as if he was determined to do something. He marched in and found Lucy's little secluded table. Gray had retreated from the embrace and stared up at the defeated fire mage. He glanced at Gray but sitting beside him was Lucy and immediately he changed his course of direction. Grabbing her by the wrist he pulled her from her seat and started back to the doors.

"Natsu? What are you doing?" She tried to wriggle free from his grasp, but he was too damn strong.

"Come on, I need to talk to you," he looked down and saw that the little blue cat was right at their heels, "alone." He added so that Happy would remain at the guild. His ears drooped back as his head hung low but he knew when to obey his friend's boundaries, so he started to walk back over to Gray who was already enjoying his time with a mug as his chair balanced on the back legs.

* * *

_**Hope you liked the second installment of Dragon Tales. Don't worry, there's going to be some NaLu lovin' soon and a little turn of fate. Teehee, don't ask me what that means because you'll just have to find out. Please read and review! (^-^)**_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

He had been dragging her until they reached the edge of town. There was a forest that separated Magnolia along the main road and Natsu brought her into its depths. She was willing to talk to him, but Lucy didn't understand why he didn't just stop and talk like normal people. He didn't mutter a single word as she was taken deeper and deeper into the woods as the sun started to get fuller and more orange. It was clear that they had been spending most of the afternoon trampling through the forest but what wasn't clear was their destination. Lucy was starting to get worried at Natsu's sudden vow of silence as she was being drowned in her own heart-wrenching pounding in her ears.

She couldn't take the silence anymore, but no matter how many times she tried to plant her feet into the ground, she was just pulled a bit harder until she cooperated. He was acting unusually strange and even when he lost some battles to Gray, he never acted like this. And to be honest, it was just as frustrating to be kept up in the silence. Sure, she wanted to know if he enjoyed Rinoa's kiss even if it would kill her, but she'd rather hear it from his own voice than to just creatively imagine things.

They finally reached the edge of the forest where the sun's orange haze was starting to show in the horizon. Natsu broke free of the low branches, bringing Lucy closer to his body so that they wouldn't smack her in the face. It opened out to a grassy meadow where the grass had raised high above their waists, but the stunning and breath-taking wildflowers glowed in the burning sunlight, actually causing Natsu to stop at the opening of the meadow. They both stared off into the distance and could barely see any opening to the forest on the opposite side. But, something did catch Natsu's eye because he was already pulling Lucy away before she could take in everything around her.

He maneuvered both of them through the tall grass making sure that the grass didn't hit in Lucy's face. The further they continued through the grass the more something came into view. It was no bigger than a hut but it did intrigue her. Natsu stopped just a few feet away from the hut's entrance and stared at it, releasing Lucy's wrist from his grasp. She didn't know the reason why they were here until a smaller object caught her eyes at the entrance. A small but very ornately decorated grave told her everything before Natsu could utter a word and before she could even read the name on the memorial.

Lucy clasped a hand to her mouth and looked over at Natsu who had still remained unusually quiet, waiting for him to explain everything.

"Lucy," he muttered and then sighed as he approached the grave to rest his palm on the top of the cross, "this is Lisanna."

"Lisanna? Wasn't she Mira-san's and Elfman's sister?" Lucy tried to recall her name, but sadly, she didn't know that much about Lisanna.

"Yeah," he mumbled as he took a deep breath. "She died on a mission with them two years ago."

"I'm so sorry, Natsu." She walked up behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder, unsurprisingly he was quite warm which caused her to blush.

His hand reached for hers as it made contact with his shoulder. Her touch was always light whenever she wasn't mad at him, and there were times when he thought she didn't notice his awareness. Like whenever she blushed, he has to refrain himself from laughing aloud otherwise there would definitely be rolling punches; her right hook was hard to avoid. But either she was more observant than he gave her credit for or he was too dense to realize that he gives her too many hints, like now. He didn't intend to give her any signals for comfort, trying hard to keep his brave-face on, but she had managed to understand.

She shuddered at his answering touch, thanking God that he didn't turn around since her face only got redder. Until recent, she never noticed her burning face whenever he would brush his skin against hers or whenever they were alone and he would smile that goofy smile of his, her favorite. Although, there was suspicion that he knew more than what she was led to believe.

"Lucy," he turned around and took her hand that was on his shoulder and turned it palm up, clasping his other hand on top of hers. Trying not to meet her eyes, he focused on her hand in his by brushing his thumb across her palm. "I need to explain something."

Her attention was immediately stolen by the soothing strokes of his thumb. His skin was rougher than hers but that only showed his experience as a mage from past missions. The heat from his palms seemed to make its way up her arm and throughout her entire body, letting her mind cloud with every second that passed by.

He took in a deep breath before continuing, "I lost a very important friend when Lisanna died. She was always so confident and strong that I didn't realize she could be taken away from me that easily, and so when she died, it hit me. I wasn't myself for awhile and everyone could tell, so they would try to cheer me up by fights or challenges but that never really helped. I was finally starting to accept her death when I heard news about Igneel." He brought his eyes up to meet hers as she tried to look away; he always had the fiercest looking eyes even if he was trying to be friendly. "Your courage to take out that fake Salamander reminded me of Lisanna and that's what made me take the chance with you, besides you seemed like a member of Fairy Tail already." With the last rays of the setting sun, his smile seemed to dazzle her more than usual, causing her to return his smile with one of her own. "Because of you, you also remind me of her more and more, but it's not painful. I don't mind those memories anymore and it's like she's never left my side, so I want to thank you."

"Natsu," she wasn't more than a whisper as his name automatically escaped from her lips, "I don't understand what you're trying to say…"

"Lisanna knew that she was my nakama, but she didn't know the true feelings I had for her. In so many ways, you remind me of her and I can't help but feel the urge to tell you that…"

Her heart started to race as her face got even redder with anticipation. She waited for his returning breath as the blood started to pound louder in her ears.

"…I would rather die than see you hurt."

_What?_ Her heart stopped as realization sunk in. _Of course, he wouldn't be the type to say his true feelings, right? No dramatic, 'I love you' and then whisk me off my feet… Maybe he doesn't even feel the same thing as I do, but yet he's doing his best to show me what he had kept bottled up. This could be his way of saying 'I love you' but that could also be a dream that won't come true._

"When Rinoa kissed me," his cheeks flushed slightly as the action replayed itself in his head, "I immediately thought of you. I don't know why, but I couldn't get you out of my head so I thought that I should tell you what I've been meaning to tell you. I wanted you to know incase anything was to happen, which I won't let it, but I couldn't lose another nakama like I did with Lisanna." He dropped his hands from hers and surprising her even more; he took her into an inescapable embrace. It didn't feel like his full force of strength but Lucy knew that she couldn't escape his arms, or maybe it was that she didn't want to.

_There's still hope yet_, she thought as the heat from his body started to melt with her skin. The sun had set and the stars were starting to blink their way into the night sky as Natsu parted from their embrace first. He looked up into the night sky, amazed that it took them all afternoon and evening to get to this point, and looking back at Lucy, he could see exhaustion behind her eyes. It never occurred to him that that was going to take that long, but it had been an eventful day for more than one person. So, he looked down into her eyes before shutting his and giving her his best toothy grin as the wind started to pick up suddenly, blowing his hair all around along with his scarf so that it flew up into his face.

She held back a chuckle as Natsu fixed himself from the surprise wind attack. Looking up at him, she could see small purple bruises under his eyes from lack of sleep, and she could feel the slight shaking in his arms as she took his right bicep into her grasp. She leaned her head against his shoulder as he supported some of her weight. Sighing, she turned to look up at him and in the faintest light of the moon's rays; she could've sworn that she saw a light dash of red spread across his cheeks. He tried to look away from her eyes, but it was to no avail since he couldn't hide many things from her, like she couldn't hide things from him.

"Come on, let's go back." She sighed again and started to push forth, bringing his newly found weary body with her. He wasn't quite aware at how much energy he had used up in his challenge with Rinoa and the hike to Lisanna's grave, but it wasn't his first time feeling this exhausted. For some reason, though, with Lucy on his arm, he felt content like the hike back wasn't going to take a toll on him.

* * *

Gray didn't know what time it was or who was in the bar; as long as he had a full mug, everything seemed to drown out all around him. He rocked back on his seat like always and felt a small tug in his stomach from his sixth empty mug of who-knows-what-kind of alcohol. He could feel the buzz starting to blur his vision, but that still didn't feel right. There was an aching feeling pounding in the back of his head as he called for Mirajane for another round.

He never drank this much and he was starting to feel a bit like Kana right now, who had just finished her fifth barrel. Although, she was way more experienced in this field of recreation; he just wanted to drown himself until he couldn't see straight, which would help when _she_ would return.

_How long has it been?_ He thought to himself as he guzzled down his freshly poured mug. _She's been out with that squinty-eyed bastard all night…I think…and she's still not back yet. Well, there's nothing else to do about it…she likes him and I bet…if he really did have a brain that he would like her back…I'm screwed…_

Being alone with yourself can do great things, but if it's for the wrong purpose, then there's nothing but ruin. Gray took swig after swig as the bar became full and then nearly empty. At this point, he wouldn't be able to recognize her even if she came barging through the doors with more tears in her eyes, so there was nothing more that he could do but hope that he could find his way home at this point. In his spotted, blurred vision, he tried to get up from the table that he assumed he was sitting at, but something pushed him back down. Squinting, like there was a blinding light in his way, he tried to look up at the person who prevented his leave.

"There's no way that I can let you leave like this," her voice was melodic, but that could've been the booze induced hallucination. "Well, at least not alone." Her hands were actually cold against his arms as she pulled him from his seat.

He tried to say something to object but it felt like there was a sock stuffed in his mouth, causing him to blabber slurred words.

"The hell if I know. Come on, which way is it to your place?" This woman's personality seemed to resemble Kana's but there was no way that she could be her, since her temperature didn't feel the same. No, this feeling was chilling his every nerve the further he felt his feet being dragged. "You're so heavy." She grunted a bit as she adjusted his weight to fit a more comfortable position for herself.

"He's…bastard…why…her?" He felt the rocking motion of walking and suddenly felt sick. The alcohol wasn't too good for him, but the buzz that still lingered made him feel a bit better. Temporary memory loss seemed very welcoming to him right about now as he felt himself make contact with the ground.

"Oh my god, Gray! I'm so sorry," she pressed her cool palms to his lower back and left shoulder, but the cobblestone sidewalk seemed so much cooler than her touch. He turned his head so that his cheek rested more comfortably on the walkway; the sudden halt had settled his stomach before anything could happen.

The woman, though, pushed him back up off the coolness of the street and heaved his arm over her shoulders. She wrapped her arm around his waist and held onto one of his belt loops while her other hand held on tight to the arm that hung around her shoulders. He could feel every motion that she made and even though he had no idea where he was going, he knew that he was in somewhat good hands.

"Rinoa! What happened to Gray?"

Someone else must've been out that night as well, because another voice eased into his head while this woman was carrying him. It sounded like another woman's voice, a more familiar voice with much concern coating her own exhaustion. He listened hard and the light patting of her running soon came into his mind. The new sensation of warm hands grabbed at his face as he was trying to squint to see this one's face.

"He's just a little drunk, but it's fine. I'm gonna take him home." The first woman responded. He remembered that the second woman said a name, but it flew out through his ears. "But, there is one problem."

"What is it?"

"I don't know where he lives. Do you, Lucy?"

"Um, actually, no…I don't. He along with everyone else usually barge into my place so I have no clue where any of them live. But, he can crash at my place." She suggested.

He felt the first woman move slightly, due to his presence, a low humming sound came from her throat as if she was growling, but it didn't seem like the second woman heard this.

"I guess that's fine. My place is a bit too small for any company." Her tone was a bit tensed as the words seemed forced from her mouth.

He was definitely being shuffled now as his full weight was brought off her shoulders and held in the air. Whoever this first woman was, she was strong as she helped him onto the second woman's shoulders. This woman wasn't as strong as the first since he could feel her tremble under his weight and it wasn't like he was that heavy.

"Are you sure you got him, 'cause it doesn't look like you can walk an inch." The first woman sounded a bit smug, but what did he know? It wasn't like he could see anything anyways, so his ears were his guide. Besides, this could've been a hallucination and he could still be at the bar, pounding himself with barrels full of alcohol.

"No, I got him." She didn't sound too confident, but it seemed like she didn't want to let the first woman know of her weakness.

"Alright then, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." The footsteps of the first woman seemed to fade away as his ears concentrated on the new sounds beside him.

* * *

_Why did he have to be so heavy? It's not like there's an ounce of fat on him, but his muscle mass must be great. That or I'm starting to hallucinate._ Lucy let out a sigh of frustration as she tried to beat back the throbbing pain in her ankle and lower back.

"So…warm…unlike…her…" A small smile played on Gray's face as he tried to nuzzle in the crook of Lucy's neck, making her blush in embarrassment.

_God, I'm glad that he's drunk. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what he's doing._ She mentally chuckled as she tried to push pass his sudden movement and continued to walk back to her apartment.

The sound of his dragging feet echoed throughout the empty town, causing her to realize how dead this town was this late at night. And even though Gray was an ice mage, he still radiated heat but it was very subtle. The light heat was giving off, though, only made Lucy crave for Natsu's warmth that seemed to roll right off of his defined, muscular body. His slow breathing made his chest rise and exhausted his volcano breath to a smooth, cool breeze that made her face flush with unexpected heat and liking. Plus, the way he moved with her was as if he wanted this walk to last longer than it was supposed to. Her palms began to sweat as she remembered the day with Natsu and that caused Gray to slip from her grasp and nearly collide with the ground again.

"Oh, Gray, I'm so sorry." She heaved him back onto her shoulders and started her route again. He only grumbled back and not wanting to hurt him again, she kept her mind focused and off of Natsu.

It took twice as long as it usually does when getting back home from the guild, but that was expected after dragging someone who weighed twice your size. She had sat Gray outside of her apartment so that she could fumble with her keys and attempt to open up her door, but for some reason it was giving her some difficulty. When she had found the right key, an unexpected hand had reached up and grabbed her arm, pulling her attention back down to the one person who could've caught it.

Gray looked up at her with a dazed and confused look as Lucy tried to pull his fingers from her arm so that she could unlock her apartment. After opening the door and turning on the lights, she was both relieved and disappointed that Natsu wasn't there. That only left her and Gray tonight which would only mean that they'd both be spending it together by the toilet, especially with the way he looked at her it could only mean that he had more than his limited amount of alcohol.

He chuckled out of some delusion that he seemed to be having and she couldn't help but smile back because he was her friend after all and there would be no reason why she wouldn't love him, but not the way that she loved Natsu of course. She scooped him up underneath his armpits so that his head was resting on her shoulder while his body was getting in the way of her steps so she had to be careful where she was stepping in her wake. Finding the couch, she had been able to place him down so that he was lying on his side with a bucket underneath his head in case he was to spill his guts.

"Thank you…Lucy…" He must've been sobering up since sweat was starting to bead on his forehead and his eyes didn't have that misty glow about them.

"No problem," she smiled at him and went into her hall where her linen closet was so that she could bring Gray a blanket. When Lucy made it back to her living room, Gray was already hunched over the bucket, throwing up the gallons of alcohol he had chugged down earlier. "Aw, Gray, here let me help you."

She had thrown the blankets down and rushed over to him so that she could brush his ebony hair out the way. When her hand had touched his forehead, she could feel the clamminess crawling all over as more sweat poured from his body and dripped into the bucket along with his entire stomach. Lucy rushed to the kitchen and fetched a cold wet rag so that she could wipe him down and make him feel better, but when she went back to the living room, she saw him sitting on the floor so that his back was against the couch and his head hung and his chin pressed against his bare chest.

He had seen her re-enter the room and tried to lift his head so that he could get a better look of her while she rushed over with the rag in hand. Smiling at her, Gray tried to get her attention but his motor skills weren't working too well right now, so he wasn't able to lift a finger. She frantically looked all over him to see if he got injured when he fell from the couch but there were no bruises. Relieved, she began to pat his forehead with the rag which caused Gray to look at her, eye to eye.

"Lucy…I'm…I'm sorry…" his breathing was unsteady as his chest heaved up and down with every word.

"There's no reason to be sorry." She told him as she saw more sweat pop up on his forehead and cheeks. A slight tint of red seemed to also brush his cheeks as she tried to wipe away all of the unwanted moisture from his face.

"Yes there…is…"

"What are you talking about?" Her eyes scanned his to see if he was hiding something but it was hard to get a reading seeing that he was still intoxicated.

Suddenly, a burst of energy seemed to flow through him as he sat there staring into her big azure blue eyes. She sat there waiting for him to answer, not realizing that she had been siting so close to him. Out of that burst of energy, Gray's whole body shivered and he regained the use of his arms, pining Lucy down on the floor so that his body was over hers. He pinned her wrists over her head, but she was shocked that she didn't even move, still staring into his eyes and trying to figure out what was happening.

He bent his head down so his lips were inches away from hers and in his state of hesitation; Lucy was able to figure what was happening to her. She squirmed under his hold but his weight was greater than hers, thanks to gravity, and because of this, Gray was able to crush her lips with his. The touch was cold, icy like the rest of his body temperature and he continued with his action as she tried to fight back but in return he thought that she was kissing him back, not letting up with his fight. He moved her wrists so that they were closer together and he could hold them down with one hand while the other brushed through her hair, down her cheek, her neck, and finally rested upon her breast. He scanned over her blouse and found the buttons in the front.

He had managed to unbutton the first three buttons, revealing her pink laced bra with the hook in the front. Moving his kisses more south, he traced her neck and the crevice of her neck where her scent was more dominant, breathing in this scent that he enjoyed so much about her. She couldn't help but pant with every touch he sent her, chilling her insides not only because of his icy temperature but because it thrilled her in a way that she couldn't even imagine. Every thought that was buzzing in her head was beginning to fade away as quickly as they were coming.

_This is unreal…There's no way that Gray is doing this…Or maybe it is him…Did he always feel this way about me? No…that's not true…He's drunk and there's no other explanation…God, does he have a freaking instruction manual?_

He unhooked her bra and released her breasts from their restraint, causing Lucy to blush the deepest red she had ever shed. He moved his lips back up to hers so she was distracted with this touch and released her wrists. She was too distracted to fight back now, so instead of pushing him up from her body, she welcomed it and ran her fingers in his hair, locking onto fistfuls of ebony hair keeping her ground. He opened the last button on her blouse and brushed away the top from her body even though the sleeves remained on her arms, but now her stomach was seen along with her bare chest.

Grazing her skin with a couple more kisses, he nuzzled his way in between her breasts and before anything more could happen, Gray felt his stomach lurch and he quickly jumped off of her so that he wouldn't upchuck on Lucy. He made it to the bucket and Lucy realized how close she was to hooking up with a really good friend. Clearing her head, she re-hooked her bra and buttoned up her blouse. Once she was all fixed, she went over to his side and made sure he was alright.

His eyes sagged from the tiredness he was starting to feel, so she helped him back onto the couch and went over to where she threw the blankets. She covered him up so that he wouldn't feel cold and sat there on the couch, brushing his ebony hair from his sticky, sweaty forehead. Smiling to herself, she watched as he slipped from consciousness and into a world of dreams, wondering what he could possibly be dreaming of.

Finally feeling her weariness of the day's events, she left Gray's side and slipped away into her room. Her emotions swarmed all around her as she tried to find her way through her room so that she could change into more comfortable clothes to sleep in. She could already admit her feelings for Natsu but with Gray it was different. He was comfortable to be around, but never had she imagined that kind of relationship with him. It was all confusing at the moment and all she was wishing was that it never happened so that it would be easier to choose, but now her heart was spinning along with her head.

She crawled into bed with her door closed, hoping that he wouldn't barge in during the night. Her eyes felt heavy and hoping for a good night's sleep, she slipped out of consciousness for the night with confusion circling her dreams of who to choose now.

* * *

_**I'm really sorry that I haven't posted any updates in months, but I've had writer's block along with several activities that needed my attention. If you're not satisfied with this update then I promise that I'll write something even better and post it as soon as I can. And if anyone could help me get over my writer's block, I'm open for story suggestions. I hope that it would give me inspiration for more chapters to come.**_

_**Also, if you're wondering why I haven't changed the rating to T yet, it's because that I have a very hot lemon scene coming but I need to work up to it. I'm sorry if I fooled you into thinking that this would be the chapter, but that's how I get you hooked. I will provide you the reading that you crave, but for the next few weeks, my schedule will still remain a bit hectic.**_

_**P.S. If you read Voyages of Seas as well, more updates for that will also be coming seeing as I have some inspiration coming back while my writer's block is effecting my novel now instead. Thank you so much for being patient with me even though there isn't much to be hooked on right now, but like I said, I promise to provide my readers with the juicy drama that they crave. I love all of those who are still reading this and please remember to review so that I know what you like and what bores you.**_

_**P.S.S. Yes, I have been keeping up with the manga and now that I reflect on my past chapters and even this one I realized that it doesn't quite follow since that person has come back due to surprising circumstances. But since this had started before that chapter release, I would like you to think that that never happened and she really is dead.  
**_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When Lucy awoke the next morning, the low grumble of moaning and groaning was coming from her living room. Not wanting anything else to happen to Gray, she pulled the blankets from her body and hopped out of bed. She ran out barely remembering what had happened the night before, but seeing Gray on her couch with his head to his forehead, because of the massive hangover he deserved, everything rushed back to her all at once. Her cheeks flushed and everything in the room began to spin and swirl as she tried to steady herself against one of her dining chairs.

He had heard her stumble to the chair and even though it was a small, insignificant amount of sound, it echoed through his ears and rattled inside his head. Feeling the throb return he grabbed a fistful of his ebony hair and fell backwards onto the couch, letting the soft pillows cushion his fall.

Lucy regained herself and went over to Gray's side. She felt his forehead for a sign of a fever but seeing that there was no sign of one, she raced into her kitchen and pulled out a bag of frozen peas. It would help with his throbbing headache while she went to find aspirin in her medical cabinet. Again, she returned to his side and he had noticed her presence with less bells ringing in his ears, but with the events of just this morning, nothing had returned to his memory.

It was hard to look at him after remembering last night, but Lucy found the strength to push the delightful yet dreadful memory past her current focus while he needed her much more than the past did.

"…Ugh…Lucy?" He grumbled as he searched for her eyes.

"Yeah, Gray?"

"Why was I sleeping on your couch?" He had managed to prop himself up on his elbows as he waited for her answer.

"Um, well, do you remember anything from last night?" Her gaze wandered away from his as she tried not to blush at the reoccurring memories.

"Last night..." his eyes rolled to the upper left-hand corner of his sockets as he tried to remember what happened the night before. The memory of drowning himself in alcohol was quite clear but everything else after that became very hazy except for a few things: a cold chill, colder than any winter he's ever experienced; an alluring angel's voice; and a jolt of energy that had caused his hormones to run wild an pin down that very angel. _Shit...I hope that _angel_ wasn't who I think it was_. "Um, no, I don't remember what happened. Could you, um, explain why I woke up on your couch?"

_Well, if he doesn't remember what happened, then there's really no need to give him the full details. For both of our sakes, I'll just keep this one to myself._ "You see, Gray, I found you in Rinoa's arms and she was looking for your place. I knew that you'd react pretty strangely if you were to wake up in a stranger's home, so I decided to take you from her hands." _I wasn't going to let that bitch take another one of my friends away from me. Plus, she didn't look too happy that I offered help_. "You passed out immediately when I put you on the couch, so I just gave you a bucket and a blanket and that was that. Now, you're on my floor with a bag of peas pressed to your forehead." She tried smiling to lighten the tensed atmosphere that suddenly had developed.

"Oh, I see," he pressed the peas harder to his forehead, hoping to stop the pulsating new heartbeat that had placed itself from his chest to his head.

Lucy had gotten back to her feet and went back into her bathroom to look for some aspirin of which she hadn't gotten yet. It didn't take her long to return with the small white bottle and a glass of water. She held it out for Gray to take and noticing the gesture, he took it quite gladly.

"Thank you, Lucy," he handed her the empty glass and the bag of frozen peas as he got to his feet. The rush of blood had caught him a little off guard so that he stumbled a bit towards her, but he found his balance and started making his way for the bathroom as she just stood there feeling a bit helpless.

Lucy had always felt helpless but that would only occur when they would be on missions together so it didn't make any sense as to why she felt like this right now. She heard the lock on the bathroom door shift and echo throughout her empty apartment, allowing her to fall down onto the couch and stare at the carpet. Her feelings for Gray were starting to change, but they weren't evolving into the same feelings that she shared for Natsu. In fact, Lucy didn't know what these feelings were, giving her a strange new outlook on her relationships that she had developed only recently. Her eyes were starting to throb with the stinging sensation of tears, but she didn't feel their warm trail down her cheeks which meant that weren't coming yet. She still had time to pull herself together before Gray would come out from the bathroom, and not wanting to hurt her friend or make him worry, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and made her way to the kitchen to put away the items he had handed her.

* * *

Gray smacked his cheeks with cold water and continued to splash his face until he could no longer see. The rushing sensation that the water provided him had caused his head to clear so that he could take in everything that he could remember and all of the hazy memories that followed after. He wanted time to figure out what had happened but there was only so much time to figure out before causing any more extensive damage to whatever had happened. He slammed his fist down on the porcelain sink, nearly causing the thing to break, and looked at himself in the mirror as the water ran from his face.

His eyes looked dead from his night of wallowing, and he had noticed a few bruises on his biceps and cheeks with a few scratches on his chest. He assumed that most of these were from Lucy's attempt to carry him to her place which was a nice gesture, but he didn't feel that it was necessary of her. Gray couldn't accept her kindness any longer since it only caused him much pain to believe he would have any with her heart.

_What are you saying?_

He looked at his reflection in the mirror and wondered where that voice had come from. He was surely alone in the spacious bathroom, but there was clearly a voice responding to his inner wallowing.

_Yeah, idiot, I'm in your head._

"Great, I've gone insane." He turned the faucet on once again and splashed more handfuls of freezing water onto his face, but nothing changed.

_No, you're pretty sane, but I will have to say that you're insane for thinking that flame-headed bastard has more of a shot with her than you. He's not as sensitive as you are and plus, he would probably end up burning her. You, you are something different. You can provide her the same feelings like she wants and understand them as well. So, don't let that pink-haired-fire-breathing-son-of-a-bitch get in your way. She deserves you and not him._

His conscience was starting to make a lot of sense. Why would he give up the ultimate battle set between him and Natsu? He's never backed out of a competition with that pink haired loser so why start now? There was no way that he was going to let that ingrate of a dragon slayer take the woman who had shown him the same compassion and love that he had dreamed of. This was his turn for some happiness and he wasn't going to let Natsu take it away from him.

* * *

Lucy couldn't take this new ache in her heart that wanted to be ripped from her very chest. Her heart was bad enough when she was close to Natsu, but now it was hurting beyond belief now that Gray was here. She couldn't understand what was going on with herself, ever since his spontaneous move last night. The rush of his touch was intoxicating but at the same time it felt wrong to be with him. It was as if she was split down the middle with herself between her love for Natsu and these overwhelming feelings for Gray of which just exploded from nowhere.

Clutching her chest, Lucy knelt over her sink feeling sick to her stomach as if she was the one with the hangover, but nothing would empty her stomach. Her breathing became heavy as she started to sweat. Her legs grew weak from holding herself up and her head wouldn't stop throbbing as if someone kept pounding her with a hammer.

"Lucy?"

It was a familiar voice but at her current state, she couldn't tel who it was. All that became clear was that it was someone who was worried. It could've been Gray since he was the only other person in the apartment, but there had been times where other people had managed to slip into her household.

"Lucy, what's happening?" The voice grew panicked as it became louder, most likely it became closer. She could feel a calloused hand rub up and down against her back, but that only made it worse as she was able to empty her stomach into her sink. This should've repulsed the voice, but only coos resided in the kitchen as she continued to empty her stomach into her sink.

After she and the voice were sure that her stomach was no longer full, Lucy slumped down the counter and fell to her knees on the floor. The person who was kind enough stay with her this long had met her level and crouched down beside her. Her vision was starting to go as well, but she had managed to see a glimpse of pink before blacking out into her guest's arms.

* * *

There were soft whispers coming from outside the bathroom and Gray only figured that Lucy was talking to someone. It wasn't until after he heard loud clattering from the kitchen followed by a thud to the floor did he nearly rip the door off its hinges and rush out to the scene of the sounds. He wasn't quite surprised to see Natsu sitting on the floor with Lucy passed out in his arms, but instead of feeling rage toward the Salamander, he could only worry about the woman who lay unconscious in his arms.

She had a pained expression on her face as her eyes twitched under their closed lids. Her body was also wrapped into a tight ball as if to close herself off from the world in fear of any pain that she might be caused. Her cream colored skin was turning paler by the second as the sweat started to pour from her forehead, causing her hair to stick together in a ratted mess.

He knelt down beside her to feel her forehead and he was correct on all points that he had seen. Her skin was very clammy as it beaded sweat, but his touch did seem to relax her a bit as she felt his cool touch against her feverish body heat.

"Natsu, what happened?" He asked, forgetting that his head was pulsating so hard that it felt as if it was going to pop off his shoulders.

"I don't know." The Salamander's eyes gazed down at the sleeping beauty before looking back up at Gray's. "I only came to surprise her, like I do every morning, but when I found her, she was leaning over the sink. So, I patted her on the back to get her attention, but she just spilled her guts into the sink as soon as I touched her. Then, she passed out and now we're like this."

"She doesn't look too good." Gray easily picked up the woman into his arms, and it felt as though her tension had eased onto him as his cool temperature relaxed every muscle in her body, allowing her to let a sigh of relief escape from her lips. He knew that he was intoxicated last night and Lucy had dealt with that for him, so now it was his turn.

He brought her to her room and laid her on her bed. Even though she didn't seem to like the warmer temperature at the moment, Gray knew that she needed to sweat out the fever. So, he wrapped the comforter over her body and she immediately grew tense once again. When he went to leave the bedroom, he saw Natsu just standing there in the doorway with the same dumbfounded expression that he had on back in the kitchen. Lucy being sick wasn't entirely new to the men, but for some reason, Natsu wasn't taking her illness easily as if he was taking the blame that she was sick in the first place.

"Natsu, stay here while I go get Wendy. She should be able to cure whatever Lucy has, so until I get back, make sure that she's comfortable." Gray assumed that Natsu needed some instruction if he was just going to stand there and make a fool of himself. At the moment, all competition was put on hold until the woman that they'd be fighting for was healthy for their battle.

The dragon slayer simply nodded and preceded toward the sleeping angel, going down to his knees so that his head slumped on the edge of her bedside. He looked dead as he just sat there, waiting for a response from her, but Gray knew that she wasn't going to respond unless she was given help.

He turned his back on his two friends and ran out of her apartment. This was a different cure for a hangover than he was used to but it was working. No longer could he feel the sickening pain of a throbbing headache or dry heaves trying to empty his stomach that didn't contain anything any longer. He ran through the morning's brisk air as no one was yet on the streets and so it gave him a clear path to the guild's bar. Hopefully, the sky dragon slayer was awake and already there, waiting for a job this morning or at least back from her previous one.

_Great...I'm going on a wild goose chase while he's back there with her. This is probably the most idiotic thing I've ever done._ He pushed his legs past their normal speed as time started to slip away from him.

* * *

_Why...? Why is it so...hot? It feels as though I can't breath...Am I going to die? No...I can't die...because there are people who need me...I can't die without telling him...anyway._

_

* * *

_

"Lucy...?" Natsu whimpered, inching closer to her tensed features. He knew not to get too close so that he wouldn't get sick himself, but at the moment, he couldn't think straight. She was the only one on his mind.

Her eyes fluttered every few seconds, but there were no signs of seeing her azure orbs. The very color that would send his heart beating, millions of pulses per millisecond. He would feel warm with just her near and never would he feel that when she wasn't with him, so the sensation would rush throughout his whole being. Every time she would send a smile in his direction, he would have no choice but send an even greater one right back. He knew that she couldn't notice these signs but it was better whenever he caused the same thing to her.

People would call him a moron or insensitive to somethings, but he wouldn't let that get to him because he knew that they didn't know how aware he was. He could pick up on subtle signs but not wanting to take that kind of charge, he would just brush those off. He was never unaware of someone's feelings, except yesterday.

Rinoa was new and he had just met her. Though he had only known her for a few seconds, Natsu wouldn't have predicted her strategical move in their little duel, but that's only how he saw it. Afterward, she had shown no further signs of her liking toward him unlike Lucy. She was the easiest book to read since he could pick up every blush and wandering eye. He liked how her cheeks would light up a nice hue of crimson, highlighting her creamy features with a nice mix of strawberry filling for that special treat.

He wasn't playing with her feelings; it was just that he didn't know how to return them. Whenever he thought he was doing something right, it would turn out wrong, but in the end, she would seem to giggle and let it go. She was so forgiving toward him that it gave him hope of finding the right thing to say someday, but still, even now when she needed him most, he was useless.

His strength couldn't protect her nor could it do anything to rid her away of the virus, but he couldn't help to lean on her bed. Her scent was intoxicating even though she was in her current state. Natsu just kept inching toward her until Lucy flipped onto her side so that her face was only centimeters away from his. Now, his face had turned a crimson hue as her hot breath bounced off of his face, causing him to freeze in his spot. He started to feel a tingly sensation throughout his body as time seemed to stop in place and all he could concentrate on was her paling face in front of his.

"H...ot..." she breathed, causing his face to deepen his shade of red. "Too...hot..." A sudden chill ran through her spine as she convulsed violently.

For once, Natsu was afraid as her body began to violently convulsed and thrash about. She looked as though she was fighting in her sleep while shivering as if being frozen in a blizzard, which they both had experienced together. He backed away from her as he frantically looked around for help, but no one was here, not even Happy. They were all alone and he was the one left in charge to take care of her, but he had no clue as to take care of thrashing like this. So, he did what he thought was best.

Climbing into her bed very carefully, he laid on top of her so that her limbs remained immobile and his body weight kept her together. She tried to struggle from his grasp, but he was physically much stronger than she was and so it was only a matter of moments until her body felt the strain to get free and stopped. Her breathing returned to shallow gasps as her stomach was being pushed down from Natsu's body weight. With him realizing this, he fixed his position so that he was now laying on his side next to her still body. Her face was beginning to loosen her muscles so that she seemed more at peace now, but her body would stop shivering now.

"C...old...so...cold..." she mumbled through chattering teeth.

Now, this was his department. She seemed to notice his radiant body heat and cuddled right up against his chest so that her hot and sweaty body was pressed tightly to his. Nuzzling in the crook of his neck, Lucy released a deep sigh as if she was merely sleeping on a cold winter's eve. He was hesitant at first, but managed to wrapped his arms around her cuddling body, bringing her closer to his warmth. It feel right to hold her like this, but at the same time, he couldn't help and feel guilty about holding her this close without her knowing.

"Natsu...feels so...nice..." she relaxed further into his body and let her weight drop onto his strength without any worry of him backing away. Soon, their breathing became in sync as he started to relax on her bed, just staring at her sleeping face and losing track of time. A smug smile developed on his face as her words settled into his mind, realizing that she was dreaming of him and only him.

"Lucy..." he breathed, leaning closer to her as he let a small kiss grace her forehead and forgetting that she was still sick with a fever and a cold sweat.

The slamming open of a door had caught him off guard, causing him to fall off the edge of the bed with a thud to the floor. Thankfully, he didn't disturb Lucy's sleep, but now they weren't alone. Natsu looked over at the door frame and saw that it wasn't Gray, who he was expecting, but someone else entirely different.

"Lisanna?" His eyes grew wide at the darkened silhouette with her arms outstretched and holding onto the frame for support.

* * *

_**Hello faithful reviewers and readers. I'm very sorry once again for not updating as quickly as I promised, but since the last time that I updated, I wasn't involved in family affairs. So, I will try and update as soon as I can but at the moment everything is probably going to go like this until my affairs get settled. I would also like to announce to my Voyages of the Sea readers and reviewers that until my muse comes back, I probably won't be updating that any time soon. I would also like to add that I'm starting a Naruto fanfic because lately I've been infatuated with a certain pairing, SasuSaku, and I just can't help my imagination.**_

_**Please don't get mad at me for starting another fanfic without finishing any of the ones that I started but I just go with the flow. I will say, though, that this fic with Natsu and Lucy is going to get updated more since this muse is starting to return to me. In fact, I have a good outline as to what's going to happen in the next chapter. So, please keep reading and reviewing and I apologize once again for the late update, but I had to get this one done before the new year took off. Happy New Year!**_


	5. Author's Note

March 8th, 2011

Ah, finally I'm home!

On March 4th, I had awoken at 3:00 a.m to go to my high school where me, and the rest of the music department kids, left to go to the airport. From there we traveled to Philadelphia International Airport and flew all the way to Disney World in Florida! The trip was so much fun and I would do it all over again if I could. We went to all four parks (one per day), did a workshop that involved going backstage of Epcot and put music to an animation of Tarzan, performed in Downtown Disney, and did everything you could possibly do in Disney.

My mom had told me not to pack my laptop to Disney, but I knew I needed something to do on the plane and I figured that I would be careful, so I packed it anyway. I used on the plane ride there, sometimes when I was having down time at the hotel, and then back on the plane ride home. I was able to get away with bringing the most important thing in my life (right now) to and from Disney without losing it. But the one thing about me that I hate so much is my luck. My laptop made it in one piece, but when we were in Florida waiting to go home, our flight was delayed a few hours so that gave me time to charge it for the ride back. In the frantic scurry of cleaning up our mess so that the plane before us could board, I must've done something wrong. I got home last night at about 10:30 p.m, went up stairs to plug in my laptop, but the power cord isn't there. I didn't lose my laptop but my power cord that recharges my computer's life. What terrible luck!

Right now, I'm using my brother's laptop to do my daily things but, again with my terrible luck, I can't write any of my stories. His computer has Microsoft Office and mine had Open Office. I realized after an hour that I can't open my documents with Microsoft Office so until I get a new power cord, there won't be any more updates of my work. I'm sorry to those who read my stories but you'll have to wait to find out what happens next.

Please excuse my idiocy and wait patiently for my power cord. I promise to make all of the chapters longer than I intended to make it up to you guys.


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